The present invention relates to communications generally, and more specifically, to electronic mail and facsimile communications.
Facsimile (fax) communications are used extensively by businesses of all types. Based upon requirements, facsimile capability may be authorized for employees in a variety of departments within a company. Because facsimile transmissions enable export of data from the company, facsimiles provide a vulnerability with respect to potential loss of proprietary information. Improved ability to monitor facsimile transmissions is desired.
Another shortcoming of conventional facsimile systems is their inefficiency. The process of sending a fax often involves walking to a facsimile center, waiting for a fax machine to become available, and walking back to the sender""s work area. This can be very time consuming. Further, the sender usually has a choice of either waiting for transmission of a fax to obtain a fax journal sheet before returning to his or her work area, or returning to the work area without a confirmation that the document has been transmitted successfully to the correct recipient. This means that the sender must choose between the more inefficient procedure of waiting by the fax machine for the fax journal sheet and the less secure procedure of leaving the fax machine without the fax journal sheet (before the transmission has completed successfully). A more efficient facsimile communication method is desired.
A method for communication, comprising the steps of: receiving an electronic mail message having content and having at least one destination with a top level domain name, routing the electronic mail message to a facsimile server if the top level domain name matches a predetermined domain name associated with the facsimile server, and forming and transmitting a facsimile signal representing the content of the electronic mail message from the facsimile server to a facsimile receiver.